Chapter 316 Han Zhang Dissuades
"Your Majesty, this is inappropriate!"
Hu Zhongyan stepped out and said, "One is for personal gain, the other two are for the public! The investigation of Minister Peng should be conducted by the three courts!"
The Three Departments refer to the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Censorate.
The Ministry of Justice is in charge of the laws and prisons of the world, while the Dali Temple is responsible for reviewing criminal cases throughout the world, maintaining judicial fairness, and preventing wrongful convictions.
The powers of the Censorate are supervision, impeachment and advice.
Generally, major cases will be tried by three judges to ensure fairness and justice.
Peng Qingzhong was the Minister of Personnel, holding a high position of power, so his trial naturally required a joint trial by the three courts.
The reason why Hu Zhongyan made such a suggestion was that he was still unsure about Yan Kuan.
Previously, Yan Kuan took the lead in impeachment to prevent Zhao Xing from implementing the Qingmiao Law.
However, after Zhao Xing ascended the throne, the Minister of Justice retired and returned to his hometown. In the end, Zhao Xing made the final decision and appointed Yan Kuan as the Minister of Justice.
If Yan Kuan has already defected to Zhao Xing and he is in charge of the trial, Peng Qingzhong will be in big trouble.
He has received many benefits from Peng Qingzhong. If Peng Qingzhong betrays him, he will be in trouble.
"What Hu Aiqing said makes sense. Then let the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple and the Censorate conduct a joint trial. For the sake of fairness and justice, let the chief officials of the three ministries jointly conduct the trial!"
Zhao Xing said calmly: "Also, check with the Liao envoys we met yesterday!"
"Your Majesty!" Han Zhang stepped out and said, "This is not appropriate! The Liao envoys are visiting important officials in the court. If we investigate them all just because they met with the Liao envoys, it will make people panic. I'm afraid we will fall into the Liao's trap!"
Han Zhang had no selfish motives. He just felt that the Liao envoys did this not only to find out whether the Song Dynasty intended to send troops, but also to muddy the waters for the Song Dynasty.
Once the Song Dynasty was in chaos, it would naturally be impossible to send troops.
The Liao Kingdom did not need to agree to the Song Dynasty's conditions and cancel the annual tribute.
Han Zhang did not know Zhao Xing's plan, nor did he think that the Song Dynasty could destroy the Liao Kingdom.
In his opinion, this was a good opportunity. Once missed, it would be difficult to ask the Liao Kingdom to cancel the annual tribute in the future.
"No need to say more, my lord. I will never tolerate anyone in the court secretly colluding with the Liao Kingdom. This matter is settled." Zhao Xing waved his hand.
Seeing Zhao Xing so determined, Han Zhang hesitated for a moment and did not insist.
If he continues to oppose it, it will only cause more chaos within the Song Dynasty.
After this incident, the other officials no longer had the heart to submit reports, and the morning court ended in a hurry.
Zhao Xing left with the respectful farewell of all the officials, and the officials then left the hall with heavy hearts.
Many people are thinking about a question.
Zhao Xing had long intended to take action against Peng Qingzhong, and this time he just went with the flow.
Or maybe he just wanted to use this incident as a warning to others.
They seem to be the same, but in fact they are essentially different.
If it was the former, it would be fine. It would be normal for Zhao Xing to obtain the evidence in advance.
But if it is the latter, it means that Zhao Xing has been secretly investigating officials in the court.
Then, would some of their privacy and things they do also be controlled by Zhao Xing?
Even officials who claim to be honest feel uneasy at the thought of this possibility.
After all, even if they have not committed corruption or abuse of power, it does not mean that there are no problems at all.
However, Zhao Xing was destined not to tell them the answer to this matter.
Yan Kuan felt sad when he saw that several officials who used to have a good personal relationship with him and would always stay with him after court were now avoiding him after court today.
From the moment Zhao Xing appointed him as the Minister of Punishments, he knew that this position was not an easy one.
But he didn't expect it to happen so quickly. Although Zhao Xing didn't inform him in advance, nor did he tell him what to do, Yan Kuan was not stupid. Zhao Xing set up the stage, obviously not for show.
In any case, Peng Qingzhong is definitely finished.
I just don’t know how many of those who met the Liao envoys would also be doomed.
But Yan Kuan soon found out.
Not long after he left court, he had just arrived at the Ministry of Justice when his attendant reported that a eunuch had come to the palace.
Yan Kuan went to greet him personally and recognized the man as one of the eunuchs in charge of the palace.
Inviting the man to the public room, Yan Kuan smiled and said, "I wonder what purpose your majesty has in sending Eunuch Li here?"
Eunuch Li pulled out a stack of papers from his sleeve, handed them to Yan Kuan and said, "Your Majesty said, give these to Lord Yan, Lord Yan will understand after reading them."
Yan Kuan took it and looked at it. Sure enough, the paper contained evidence of the crimes of all the people who had met the Liao envoys.
Some of these evidences of crimes were even crimes committed by those people when they had just become officials and were serving in local positions.
Although it is not real evidence, since Zhao Xing had someone send it to him, it must not be fake. He only needs to find someone to check it and he can find the real evidence.
Yan Kuan smiled bitterly in his heart, but he dared not show it on his face. He said, "Please tell His Majesty, Eunuch Li, that I understand and will definitely handle it."
He dared not not do it. Zhao Xing had evidence of these people's crimes, and probably his as well.
"Then we will go back and report." Eunuch Li said with a smile.
After seeing Eunuch Li off, Yan Kuan stayed alone in the public housing for a long time.
After daybreak, he summoned officials from the Ministry of Justice and began assigning tasks.
The first step is to invite those officials back.
…………
Long Tuge
Zhao Xing looked at Han Zhang who was chattering on and on and explaining the pros and cons to him.
After Han Zhang finished speaking, he said, "I understand what the great minister said, but these people are receiving salaries from the Song Dynasty, but they have unclear relations with the Liao Kingdom. How can we let them go easily?"
"I also know that these people are really hateful, but Your Majesty has just ascended the throne, and the court should still focus on stability. If these people are found to be guilty, they should be exiled, and killing should not be carried out rashly." Han Zhang advised.
Han Zhang knew that he could not persuade Zhao Xing, so his purpose this time was just to persuade Zhao Xing not to kill anyone.
"Don't kill people recklessly?" Zhao Xing said unhappily, "Are you advising me or ordering me, Grand Master?"
"I am of course advising Your Majesty! I may have said something inappropriate in a hurry, so please forgive me, Your Majesty!" Han Zhang bowed quickly.
"Why can't we kill them? Don't tell me that doctors cannot be punished, and don't say that there has been no example of killing scholars and officials since our ancestors. Whether our ancestors killed them or not, you know better than me, Sir." Zhao Xing said indifferently.
This time he really planned to kill a few people, and he asked Yin Hanzhang to choose. What to choose?
Isn't it just selecting those people for whom the evidence is sufficient to convict them of death?
Next, when there is civil unrest in Hehuang, the Song Dynasty will definitely send troops.
But given the current situation, most court officials are opposed.
If we don't kill a few of them first to scare them, we will have to argue with them later.
Zhao Xing wanted to kill civil servants and also high-ranking officials in the court to establish the majesty of the emperor.
"I don't want to stop Your Majesty, but the Great Wall is being built in the north, and we cannot allow chaos in the Song Dynasty," said Han Zhang.
"What if I must kill him? Does my Excellency want to retire and return home?" Zhao Xing said calmly.
"I will naturally not do such a thing to threaten Your Majesty. As a subject, I will try my best to persuade Your Majesty. If Your Majesty does not listen, I will also try my best to find out the omissions and stabilize the situation." Han Zhang said.
(End of this chapter)